ChapterThirty-Three
STEFAN
It was time for the next phase of our plan. If we had to kill Ava, I figured I should fuck her before Dante put a bullet in her skull. The Vianellos were liars and thieves and deserved what they had coming to them. We treated them like family, and they repaid us by stealing our money.
As I entered Ava’s penthouse, I heard her heels click on the marble floor. She stood in the middle of the hallway and stared at me, slack-jawed.
“I thought you were Nico.”
I shook my head. “Nico is busy.” Then I extended my hand, wiggling my fingers. “Come with me. We’re going shopping.”
Her face lit up with a smile. “What’s the occasion?”
It was a special day. But she wouldn’t like this surprise.
I dragged her out of the apartment by the hand. “Do I need a reason to take a beautiful woman shopping?”
“No, but…” She looked up at me with those big brown eyes. “I’m not used to you being nice to me.”
“I’m always nice.” I hit the button on the wall, and the elevator doors opened. With my hand on her ass, I pushed Ava inside. “You seem to have me confused with Dante.”
Once the doors opened on the ground floor, I led Ava toward the casino. A bell dinged from a jackpot, and people shouted down at the tables. I spotted Dante in the pit area. Nico was with his whore mother, who was in town for a show. And Angelo was taking a nap before dinner. He was up all night dealing with club shit.
I led Ava through the casino toward the shops. In this part of the Portofino, we painted the walls and ceiling to look like the iconic storefronts in Milan. We wanted customers to feel like they were shopping at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
“It’s closed,” Ava said as we approached the entrance.
“Not to us.”
One guard unclipped the red velvet rope and said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Luciano.”
I nodded, then tipped my head toward the stores. “After you.”
Ava flashed a smile. “Rolling out the red carpet for me?”
“You could say that.”
Even death row inmates get a last meal.
Several armed men lined the perimeter of the stores. We’d had dozens of attempts on our lives and could never have too much security. After our mother’s death, the old man was afraid to lose one of us. She wasn’t the intended victim, and to this day, we still hadn’t solved her murder.
With my hand on her back, I led Ava into La Perla. She bit her lip, searching the store with a worried expression on her beautiful face. Our little captive was so cute.
I put my hands on her shoulders. “I won’t bite.” Ava whimpered, and I licked her cheek. “Not unless you want me to.”
A twenty-something woman with long blonde hair strolled toward us with a smile. She was pretty, polished, and looked the part. “Hello, Mr. Luciano. Welcome back to La Perla. I’ve set aside your order.”
“Thanks, Jenny.” I tapped my hands on Ava’s shoulders. “This is Ava Vianello. A friend of the family.”
She nodded, knowing what that meant. “Nice to meet you, Miss Vianello. If you need anything, please let me know.”
Any friend of ours got the royal treatment. And for as long as Ava was breathing, she would get all the perks. However, that wouldn’t be for much longer.
“If you would follow me.” Jenny turned her back to us, a black dress swaying around her ankles. “I have everything laid out for you.”
We followed her to the dressing room, where she lifted each piece for Ava to see. Her eyes widened at the lingerie, and then her cheeks heated with embarrassment.
Jenny snapped her head at me. “Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Luciano? Champagne, coffee, tea, water?”